I’ve started writing a blog series on backup strategies specifically for photographers. I’m trying to avoid IT jargon, no IT assumptions, just clear and practical guidance drawn from my own experience as a photographer with an extensive background in Tech. I’ve been through so many backup and restore scenarios in my time, and chatting to fellow photogs at places like NANPA Summit, it became clear that many photogs are intimidated by tech other than camera tech. And so I figured it might be a useful resource to write something about it in a way that normal humans can understand.
The first two posts are up:
• The first looks at the real goal of backups (restoration), and how most advice misses the mark.
• The second breaks down how photo apps like Lightroom and Capture One actually store edits, and why backing up just your RAWs isn’t enough.
This is aimed at helping working photographers, especially those who aren’t super technical, build confidence in their backup setup without getting overwhelmed.
I’d love any feedback from this community: what’s useful, what’s missing, what you’d want to see in future posts?
I read parts I, II, and III and think it is well done and covers just about everything. Good job. One thing though, many photographers don’t really realize how LR works. You mentioned it, but I think more explaining on this topic would be good. Specifically, a bit more info on exactly how Lightroom works and what the LR catalog is: a bunch of data, no actual pixels. And the fact that if you edit a photo in LR those changes don’t become “real” until you export the photo, in which case you are asked how to save it, as a Tiff, PSD (if you use Photoshop), JPG, etc, or in my case since I use Photoshop, “Save” or “Save As”. Then and only then does the data transform into real pixels. And thus the importance of backing up the LR catalogue also. In my case, on my boot drive, in Time Machine, and in the cloud with Backblaze backing up my boot drive. I realize that digging a bit deeper into how Lightroom works isn’t really the subject of your blog post, especially since not all photographers edit using LR, but I think there are many “medium” photographers who use it and don’t really understand how LR works and would benifit greatly if they did.
